A convincing argument can be made that when it comes to gateway musicians responsible for shaping many of the talents showcased in these pages, Dave Edmunds ranks up there with the Knitters. Although he scored his biggest U.S. chart hit (“I Hear You Knocking”) in 1971, the Welsh singer-guitarist’s zenith as a recording artist arrived in the late ’70s/early ’80s. Consequently, although his big influences were American rock, country, and R&B from the ’50 and ’60s, his records were often marketed under the banner of new wave, and helped turn many members of the skinny-tie-and-spiked-hair set on to the joys of roots rock.
In 1982, while others shimmied to the Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me”, Edmunds refashioned “Warmed Over Kisses (Leftover Love)” by Bryan Hyland — the ’50s teen idol best known for that novelty ditty about a polka dot swimsuit — into a bluegrass rave-up. His influence was disseminated further via his production of key albums by the Stray Cats, the Fabulous Thunderbirds and k.d. lang.
Alas, From Small Things doesn’t make as strong a case for Edmunds’ alt-country legacy as it might. Instead, it relies heavily on his crackerjack versions of songs written by other artists. Featuring tunes by Nick Lowe, Graham Parker, Elvis Costello, Bruce Springsteen and John Fogerty, as well as three sock-hop-era oldies salvaged from various movie soundtracks, this patchy sixteen-track set might just as easily be titled Dave Edmunds Sings The Hits, a la some slapped-together Connie Francis affair.
And the emphasis on his ’80s albums for Columbia means that listeners are subjected to three overproduced collaborations with Electric Light Orchestra’s Jeff Lynne, while his 1979 masterpiece Repeat When Necessary is represented by just one cut. What’s here is mostly fine, but much of what’s missing (such as his take on “Queen Of Hearts”, which predated Juice Newton’s by two years) is just as good or betteraand available on Rhino’s 1993 two-disc The Dave Edmunds Anthology 1968-1990.
Edmunds’ golden era, between 1977 and 1981, coincided with the brief, busy life of Rockpile, the quartet he co-founded with singer-bassist Lowe. Also featuring guitarist Billy Bremner and drummer Terry Williams, Rockpile served as Edmunds’ backing band on the aforementioned Repeat When Necessary as well as 1978’s Tracks On Wax Four, Lowe’s Pure Pop For Now People and Labour Of Lust, and Carlene Carter’s Musical Shapes, in addition to touring relentlessly.
No surprise, then, that, when they finally got around to making a Rockpile LP proper in 1980, the participants were a bit tapped out. Featuring an even mix of Lowe originals (“When I Write The Book” is especially amusing) and revved-up covers (Gene Chandler’s “Teacher Teacher”), the joys of Seconds Of Pleasure are nowhere near as fleeting as its title implies, but it still falls short of the albums Rockpile cut in service of others. Listening to the pair of 1977 BBC live recordings tacked on as bonus cuts (along with the sublime EP of Lowe and Edmunds covering four Everly Brothers classics packaged with the original LP), one regrets that someone didn’t have the foresight to record more of the foursome’s many gigs before they started losing steam.
